1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a system for gaining access to, and for recording and billing for usage of a telecommunications network and a credit network arranged for the provision of goods, services, and/or cash, and, more particularly, to an access, recording and billing system intended for use in connection with credit accounts and credit cards issued to potential customers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As complexities of modern life increase, it becomes more and more desirable to simplify and re-organize the way everyday tasks are accomplished, so that the user can deal with a variety of problems in a consolidated and unified manner. For example, "one statement" banking, a service offered by many financial institutions, combines, in one document, a description of transactions, such as loan payments, savings deposits and withdrawals, and checking transactions that are made by a depositor during the previous reporting period. This obviates the need to receive, sort through, and respond to a multitude of documents at the end of each month. Financial management has been simplified and unified, as for example described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,442 issued to Merrill Lynch on Aug. 24, 1982 in which a cash management system removes the burden of transferring assets from the customer, maximizing the financial performance of the funds managed in the account and at the same time minimizing the inconvenience normally attendant with self management.
Where billing for usage of a telecommunications network is concerned, progress has been made along the lines just described. For example, the Southern New England Telephone Company (SNET) has issued a single calling card carrying two account designations, one for making purchases of goods and/or services and the other for making telephone calls, so that a user can avoid the necessity and attendant inconvenience of carrying separate cards for each type of transaction. However, the SNET recording and billing arrangement still renders two separate bills to each account holder, one for telephone calls and the other for goods and/or services. To avoid this problem, other recording and billing arrangements have been devised whereby ordinary credit cards may be utilized to access the telecommunications network. However, such arrangements often necessitate the use of special telephone station apparatus to read magnetically encoded account information directly from the credit card, place a call to a remote data base, and wait for an authorization or other reply. This significantly delays the user, sometimes creating frustration and dissatisfaction. With other arrangements, even if ordinary station apparatus is used to initiate a credit card call, details of the call, such as time, calling and called number, often cannot be made available to the customer when the bill is rendered. In yet other situations, calls are permitted without adequate validation of the credit card number, increasing the possibility of fraud.